Vol. 442 No. 4
36 Mr. Sheehan asked the Minister for the Marine the efforts, if any, he has made to ensure that drift net tuna fishing will not be prohibited by the EC in the north Atlantic Ocean; and the extent to which he has opposed the EC plan to ban tuna fishing with drift nets larger than 2.5 KMs.
At last month's Council of Fisheries Ministers, the Commission presented a proposal in regard to the future of drift netting, which has the following elements:
—all drift netting, for tuna, salmon, and certain other species, to be phased out over a period of four years;
—during this four year period, nets of up to 2.5 km may be used, but their use must be reduced each year;
—boats which previously held the derogation to fish with nets up to 5 km may continue to do so, for 1994 only.
In addition, the Commission has indicated that funding may be made available to assist fishermen who fish with drift nets to change over to an alternative method of fishing.
As the Deputy will appreciate, the proposal caused much concern among Ministers at the April Council. The Council decided that the proposal should be examined in detail prior to the next Council in June, when decisions on the proposal will be discussed further.
I have pushed Ireland's case strongly on this issue to date, at Council of Fisheries Ministers' level, and in correspondence and meetings with the Commissioner and other Ministers, and I will continue to do so.
There is, in my view, no basis on fisheries grounds for the banning of drift netting for tuna. There are, however, serious concerns internationally about the impact of this method of fishing on other marine species, in particular dolphins.
